Recreational Activities on Mariner of the Seas (Part 1)

Related Posts:
Comprehensive Guide to Mariner of the Seas (Royal Caribbean)
What to do on Day 1?
8 Types of Sports Activities on Mariner of the Seas
Recreational Activities on Mariner of the Seas (Part 2)

There are many recreational activities on Mariner of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) for you to choose from. But if you are the sporty and active kind, read my previous post about the various sports activities. Otherwise, read on! But first….

What’s the peak period for the activities on-board?

It was the school holidays, and our cruise seemed to be operating at its full guest capacity. I am not a crowd person, so we tried to use certain facilities during the off peak hours.

• High Peak: All the guests are on-board on the first and last day and all the nights.
• Acceptable Crowd: 2nd day when the ship docked at Port Klang. Not a popular destination for Singaporeans (which made up 85% of the passengers).
• Low Season: As we went further up north to Penang and Phuket on our 3rd and 4th day, the cruise became less crowded during the day. Return earlier from the cut-off timing for a less crowded ship.

More about the peak period in my previous post about sports.

So what are the recreational activities on Mariner of the Seas? Scroll down and have fun!

1) Board Games / Mahjong

Card and Games

At Deck 14, you can chill in the cards and games room. There is a collection of board games for you to choose from and play at one of their tables.

Chess, anyone?

Mahjong

In another room, there was a lone table of 4 aunties. Zoomed in, and I found them playing mahjong! If you have 3 other mahjong khakis with you, you may consider dropping by. But it’s better not to get hooked on mahjong and enjoy the many other fun activities on-board!

2) CASINO

A standard feature of cruises in Asia – casino. Again, there are many other things for you to do on-board. It doesn’t make sense to pay so much to get on the Royal Caribbean just to gamble, might as well pay S$100 for the local casinos. Then again, not encouraging anyone to gamble. Once you start, you might get addicted and not stop. Don’t trust in your flesh to resist.

Even the decor at the casino’s entrance said it all (see photos below). You step over the decorations as they are encased on the floor by glass.

On closer look, you’ll see the greed, gluttony and debauchery. It reminded me of the show “Spirited Away”, where people devour fresh food in a piggish manner, and a ‘Stink Spirit’ produces gold to tempt the naive.

Ironically this art installation reminded us of us, the guests on cruise. We were being fed non-stop. Or rather one can choose to keep eating 24/7. A huge amount of food was available on-board–either to be consumed or thrown away.

Bingo!

For the fun of it, you can play a simple game of luck with bingo.

• Guaranteed $200 win for the first day
• Kids wearing the emergency wristband play free when a parent or guardian purchases a card – limited to 2 children per adult.

3) Recreational Sports

Mini Golf Course

The golf clubs are in a metal rack near to the basketball and soccer court. As for the golf balls, they are lying around the green pasture of golf course. You technically only need one ball per player.

There were a few courses, and we just went to the empty one. But many people kept invading our space.

Soon, Mr S figured it out. There’s actually a golf course route. Start from the beginning, which is near the basketball court and move on to the next section after your ball entered the first hole, so on and forth. Complete the course first and be the winner! :)

p.s. See the map of the sports arena above. There’s a start and finish indicated at the ends of the big green patch.

Image: 2bearbear.com

Shuffleboard

We were walking along the deck in the sea breeze when we spotted the shuffleboard. This is my first time seeing this game. But not Mr S. He said this game is similar to the Olympics game of Curling – shuffleboard on ice.

There were 2 shuffleboards available for play on the Mariner of the Seas. The cues and push weighted discs are in a box at the side, and instructions nearby. I love this game because that area has very low foot traffic and guests don’t usually play this unfamiliar game. So it’s almost always available!

But my arms ached the next day, and I couldn’t try the rock climbing! :(

4) Captain Viewing

Don’t miss this! It’s really cool. Peep into the main control room where the big cruise is being navigated.

Get to Deck 11, walk outside along the border to the front of the ship. The Marine Fitness Center and its row of treadmill should be behind you. There you will see a short flight of stairs. Walk down. Through a panel of window, you will see this:

Look further ahead and you will see a helipad for the helicopter to land during emergencies. This view to the control room is only available in the day. They will block it off at night.

There’s an information board right in front of the window. With a parallel diagram, it points out and explains the different people and controls you see at The Bridge (control room).

Now I know what’s the two thing sticking out at the side of the ship. They act like the side mirrors of a car. It’s for the staff to walk out and see the sides, especially during docking/parking.

5) Photo-Taking

You can sign up for photo packages on the first day to get special deals and promotions. There will be official photographers planted in many places – when you first come on-board, when you alight at each port of call, various parts of the ship, events, etc.

At certain times, there would be a long queue waiting to be photographed by the official photographer at this particular spot (see below). So in one of the rare occasions when there wasn’t a queue, I jumped in front of the photographer and asked Mr S to take a photo of me.

It’s a nice background.

There are also many other spots you can go around taking photos! We looked like Photoshopped into the Christmas tree photo, but nope. We were simply illuminated by the bright Christmas lighting. :)

HAPPY CRUISING~

I will be listing more recreational activities on Mariner of the Seas in my subsequent posts. Continue on to Part 2 here.

Which activities will you consider doing? Leave a comment below.

Bookmark this page >> Comprehensive Guide to Mariner of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) as I update it with links of useful tips and navigation around the cruise.

Travelled in December 2015 | Trip is fully paid by us and in no way sponsored.

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